Strip deflector means and control



p 17, 1953 J. l. GREENBERGER 3,401,546

STRIP DEFLECTOR MEANS AND CONTROL Filed June 27, 1966 INVENTOR JOSEPH J.GR'E/VAEMER 147' mRIVEV.

United States Patent 0 3,401,546 STRIP DEFLECTOR MEANS AND CONTROLJoseph Irwin Greenberger, Pittsburgh, Pa., assignor to UnitedEngineering and Foundry Company, Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation ofPennsylvania Filed June 27, 1966, Ser. No. 560,508 Claims priority,application Great Britain, July 9, 1965,

. 29,308/ 65 4 Claims. (Cl. 72-10) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Apparatusfor preventing coil breaks in strip unwound from a payoff coil at theentrance to a rolling mill. A follower in contact with the coiled striptransmits, via an arm, a cam, and a cam follower, to a digital positioncontrol unit, motion representative of the diameter of the coiled strip.The control unit controls a servovalve which is connected to anhydraulic cylinder. A piston within the cylinder is connected to asliding frame which rotatably mounts a deflector roller. The systemfunctions so that as the coil diameter decreases the deflector roller isautomatically lowered to minimize the angle of bend of the strip aroundthe roller.

This application is based on a British provisional, Ser. No. 29,308/ 65dated July 9, 1965, for which application the applicant is claiming aright of priority pursuant to 35 U.S.C. 119 of the Patent Act,

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION This invention relates to an improvement inrolling mill apparatus and is particularly directed to apparatus forautomatically controlling the contour of a strip as it is fed from anuncoiling means to the mill.

In the uncoiling of certain strip formed in a coil, objectionablesurface defects may develop. For example, in the rolling of relativelyheavy gauge strips, such as gauges over and above .050", it is necessaryin the uncoiling and feeding of such strip to the mill to provide meansfor controlling the contour of the strip between the uncoiling means andmill rolls. If the proper strip contour is not obtained and maintainedrelative to the change in the bending arc of the strip as it is fed tothe mill, surface fracture or what is more commonly known as coilbreaks, is experienced which occurs when the bend angle becomesincreasingly large as the diameter of the coil decreases.

In the past, attempts to control the contour of the strip has beenprovided by manual lowering of the mill entry deflection roller orrollers. In this case the rollers were vertically adjusted so that asthe coil diameter decreased during the uncoiling of the coil, theoperator manually lowered the deflector roller to decrease the angle ofarc of the strip caused by the decrease in the diameter of the coil. Arecognition or attempted solution to the problem can be found in US.Patent No. 2,734,551 which issued to A. I. Berdis on Feb. 14, 1956.

The present invention provides a system for automatically controllingthe arc of bending of the strip in direct relationship to thediminishing diameter of the coil which is entirely free from any manualassistance and attention.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel means forcontrolling the position of the entry deflector roller or rollers of arolling mill with respect to the diminishing diameter of the coil duringthe uncoiling thereof.

It is another object of this invention to provide means arranged toengage the periphery of the coil while it is being uncoiled which meansis operatively connected to 3,401,546 Patented Sept. 17, 1968 ice themill deflector roller or rollers; whereby as the coil diameterdiminishes during the uncoiling thereof, the roller will becorrespondingly lowered to control the feeding are or contour of thestrip as it is fed to the mill,

DRAWING These objects and other features and advantages of the presentinvention will be more clearly understood when the followingspecification is read along with the accompanying drawing whichillustrates a diagrammatical elevational view of the present inventionemployed in combination with rolling mills.

DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION With reference to the drawing there is shown afourhigh rolling mill 10 for cold reducing strip. The mill need not, ofcourse, be a four-high mill, nor a reduction mill. In combination withthe mill, there is shown strip feeding equipment, including a payoffreel 11 of a customary design, such as shown in the aforesaid patent onwhich a coil C to be unwound is placed. Also shown is a pair ofadjustably arranged vertically movable entry deflector rollers 12 and13, the roller 13 being shown in phantom, since in a given case only oneroller is employed. The rollers are rotatably mounted in sliding frames14 and 15 and vertically adjustable by piston cylinder assemblies 16 and17.

Arranged adjacent the reel 11 and parallel to its axis is .a follower 18mounted on an arm 19. This arm also carries a cam 21 which is engageableby a roller follower 22. A piston cylinder assembly 23 is connected tothe arm 19 for maintaining the roller 18 in positive contact with theperiphery of the coil C during the entire uncoiling operation. The camfollower roller 22 is part of the plunger of an electrical device 24,such as a digital position control unit, that controls the fluiddischarged from a servovalve 25, the valve 25 being connected in serieswith the piston cylinder assemblies 16 and 17 and control theiroperation. The digital position control unit may be in the form of anumber of readily available commercial units, one such unit isillustrated in Bulletin No. EE-1008 of Seneca Falls Machine Co.,Electronics Division, Seneca Falls, NY. Thus, the cylinder assemblies 16and 17 are controlled pursuant to the decrease in the diameter of thecoil to automatically and continuously lower either or both of therollers 12 and 13 to maintain the angle of bend of the strip around therollers always as small as possible under the circumstances of theequipment involved.

In place of the cam 21 and the follower 22 the piston rod of thecylinder 23 may be connected to a hydraulic servovalve unit, which, inturn, may communicate with an individual servovalve .associated with thedeflector roller to thereby control the vertical position of the rollers12 and 13.

In a still further embodiment the second deflector roller 13 may becontrolled from a separate cam mounted on the arm 19 in which case thedeflector roller 13 which is closest to the mill stand would movedownwardly at a slower rate than the other roller, thereby maintainingthe optimum strip contour through the entire uncoiling of the coil.

In accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes, I haveexplained the principle and operation of my invention and haveillustrated and described what I consider to represent the bestembodiment thereof. However, I desire to have it understod that withinthe scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practicedotherwise than as specifically illustrated and described.

I claim:

1. In combination with an apparatus for uncoiling striplike material incoil form to a processing apparatus,

means arranged between said two apparatuses for engaging one surface ofthe strip as it passes from the uncoiling apparatus to the processingapparatus, support means for said strip engaging means so constructed asto allow the means to move towards and away from the strip, means formoving the strip engaging means, means for detecting a change in thediameter of the coil as it is uncoiled to said processing apparatus, and

electrical means associated with said detecting means and said means formoving the strip engaging means to receive a signal from said detectingmeans representing a detected change in the coil diameter and eflectingoperation of said means for moving the strip engaging means.

2. In combination with an apparatus according to claim 1, wherein saidstrip engaging means comprises a roller rotatably carried by saidsupport means,

said support means including guide means for slidably receiving saidroller and allowing it to move vertically relative to said support, and

wherein said means for moving the strip engaging means comprises apiston cylinder assembly received by said support means and connected tosaid roller.

3. In combination with an apparatus according to claim 1, wherein saidcontrol means includes,

a member adapted to be brought into engagement with the periphery of thecoil as it is being uncoiled,

means for urging said member against the coil,

a cam associated wtih said member adapted to be rotated on movement ofsaid member as the diameter of the coil decreases,

an electrical device including a cam follower actuated by said cam andadapted to produce a signal representing a dimensional change in thediameter of the coil as it is uncoiled,

a servovalve operatively associated with said electrical device and saidmeans for moving the strip engaging means adapted to efiect operation ofsaid means for moving the strip engaging means.

4. In combination with an apparatus for uncoiling strip according toclaim 1, wherein said strip engaging means comprises two spaced-apartrollers arranged to engage the lower surface of the strip.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,734,551 2/1956 Berdis 72-l662,750,984 6/1956 Miller 72166 3,058,376 10/1962 Fry 72-250 3,273,8199/1966 Sivilotti 24278.1

CHARLES W. LANHAM, Primary Examiner.

A. RUDERMAN, Assistant Examiner.

